Broken China
by cateliot
Summary: "Luli, my dear." "Raymond." "Watch her Donald. She hates men; cops most of all." Just as everyone involved with Raymond Reddington, Luli Zheng's past is violent, complicated, and inexplicably tied with the mysterious Concierge of Crime. This is how they meet.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: All character's, quotes (indicated), and places belong to NBC and associates. I really enjoy how amazingly complex and interesting this show is, but was very surprised by how little stories there are for it. I really enjoy the relationship between Red, Dembe, and Luli, though the writers didn't explore Luli's character at all. It was so disappointing, so I decided to write about it myself. The next chapter is written, so if there's interest in this story, let me know. Please review and give the writer some creative feedback.**

Raymond Reddington did not like the way this meeting was going. In the large, expansive home of the brute of a leader of the police force in Vietnam, he was tiring of their conversation. Around the large table sat about a dozen of international criminals or couriers. The home's light were dimmed and smoke filled from the heavy cigar smoke. Red tried not to cough as the thick gas tickled his throat.

As the others continued to argue around the table, the well-dressed American found himself bored with this course of conversation. The meeting of all those involved with the trade with North Korea was supposed to be productively deciding whether or not to end the life of the Korean leader or simply cut off trade, but the only thing anyone seemed to want to do was argue.

Inwardly, Reddington sighed.

"Gentlemen, as interesting as this is, and I assure you _it is_," he said, leaning forward, "I must insist that we get back to the focus of this meeting. Some of us have other engagement to get to after this."

Dembe would be wondering what was taking so long. They had an appointment in Cairo in a few days that needed their attention.

Trai Zeng, military general and head of the police force in Vietnam, looked like a large, uncaged lion. He was tall and bulky with a single scar stretching over his cheek. He wore his military uniform every occasion Red saw him. He was a brute, someone who liked to watch people suffer, to play with them before he killed him. Red hated doing business with him and did it simply out of principle.

Zheng continued his conversation among his men near the head of the table, looking towards the shadows and snapping something Reddington didn't catch in rapid fire Vietnamese. A girl appeared from the smoke and Zeng roughly grabbed her arm, jerking him close enough to snap something in her ear.

She was beautiful.

Red recognized this immediately. The others didn't seem to notice her in the shadows of the room, they were too involved in their own conversations, but Red made it his business to notice everyone and everything.

Though he could only see so much through the smoke and table conversation, he could tell she was young and tiny. She wore a summer silk dress with red and gold patterns on it with legging underneath and combat boots. She had long, dark hair that was pulled away from her face in a skillful fashion. Her large, dark eyes were cast down at the ground.

Their conversation latest only second before she nodded jerkily and he released her haphazardly.

A recent article he had read about abusive child marriage in Asian countries flashed through his mind.

"You're right, old friend," Zheng said smoothly. He looked around with a smile that nowhere met his cat like slits of eyes. The conversations at the table quieted slightly. "A refill before we begin everyone?"

Red rolled his and shrugged, leaning back in the chair, making sure Zeng was clearly aware of his annoyance. The others at the table continued their conversations, arguments.

The same girl Zeng had been grabbed slipped forward from the shadows of the home with a glass pitcher of lemon water in her hand.

She moved towards his glass and tipped the pitcher down. As the tall glass filled, Red's suspicions were confirmed as the black and blue handprints were illuminated on her skin.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, look up at the girl, his eyes meeting hers. She offered him a weak smile in return and quickly backed away from the table and continuing to fill the rest of the guest's glasses.

They began their discussion and Red frowned and observed Zeng. Something strange was going on with the man today and after ten years of being a criminal, Reddington knew better than to disregard his internal warning system.

But an hour into negotiations, the room began to feel distinctly warm and the lights, still obscured from the smoke started to spin. Red calmed himself before discreetly standing.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I'm afraid I must borrow the facilities for a moment."

He knew he was being followed and even through the drugs or poison he scanned the rooms he passed for a weapon.

As he spied a frying pan, there was a series of bangs from the other room. Followed by more gunfire. Adrenaline pumped through Reddington's system. He disarmed the first man he found, emptying three rounds into the next man, clearly one of Zeng's who aimed a pistol at him. He moved towards an exit, his head buzzing with thoughts that had no words, until he felt a shock course through his system.

He turned from the door to empty his clip into the man following him, not really bothering to look at who it was.

He looked down at his new suit to find blood dripping off it. Then the pain hit him like he was set on fire. Not stopping to assess the damage, he managed to make it out of the house, staggering with the blood spurting from the two bullet wounds like geysers.

Black dots danced in his vision. He managed to make it to across the street and into a crowd near an alley before he tumbled into the concrete.

He pressed down on his shoulder and felt around, unable to locate the bullet before the pain was too much to bare. The stomach wound was more of a concern to him. He shrugged off his jacket and tied it around his waist, not that it would do much for the profusely bleeding wound.

He began to shake and eased onto the ground, tucked into the corner, where he would be better hidden. Just as his vision darkened and lightened, he caught sight of a face.

It was the girl's.

Then he lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: All character's, quotes (indicated), and places belong to NBC and associates. I've got a lot of ideas about this about this story so far and I think it could be really great. Thanks to Guest and Terry1961 for the reviews. Over 100 views, and only 2 reviews, please review and give the writer some creative feedback.**

When he awoke, the sun was peeking out from a dusty, trashed room and the girl was curled up in a ball in the corner, watching him attentively. His chest and shoulder had been bandaged with strips of cloth.

He blinked and surveyed his surroundings. He could hear the street noise and the village, but otherwise, the building was quiet. There was nothing in the room. It looked like it had been cleared out years ago other than a musty old blanket and makeshift sheets covering the windows. A handful of decrepit cardboard boxes were thrown around the room.

"I love what you've done with the place," he said drily.

The girl just continued to stare blankly at him so he tried another approach. "What's your name?" he managed to croak out. The girl looked at him carefully and was quiet still. Red tried to move to a better sitting position, but winced. The girl moved with the fluidity of a snake and eased him up against the wall.

"Do you speak English?" he tried again, this time in Vietnamese.

"Yes," she said quietly, her eyes focused on her thin, nimble finger retying the bandage on his wounds.

"What's your name?" he repeated.

There was a heartbeat before she answered the question. "Luli." Red smiled broadly and took the hand tending to his shoulder and brought it to his lips. "Pleasure to meet you, Luli, my dear. I do so wish it was under better circumstances."

She looked at him, wide eyed and shocked, as if she had never seen something like the gesture, but Red just smoothly moved on over her nervousness. "I believe I owe you a debt, Luli, for my life."

Her downcast her eyes to the floor, an action he remembered from the meeting with Zeng.

"How long has it been?"

"Six hours."

Her voice was barely over a whisper.

"And where are we?"

"Somewhere safe."

She didn't elaborate and he didn't ask her to. He sighed and leaned back against the wall. Just as he was getting comfortable, he felt a rip and a burning sensation in his shoulder.

Then a flash of red caught his attention.

Luli's hand stemmed the bleeding quickly. He didn't ask her how she knew so much about medical procedure and instead watched her do her work.

He grunted as she knotted off the bandage. "What happened here?" he asked gently, turning her hand over to examine the jagged, deep cut. It looked partially healed, but still fresh, marring her skin.

Luli hesitated slightly before revealing, "broken china."

Reddington must have looked confused because she continued after a moment. "I knocked into it accidently and it shattered. I was trying to repair it when Trai found it and got angry...now I match the china."

Red's throat closed and an image of a beaten battered young Dembe flashed through his mind. He summed it up to the drugs still pumping through his system. Normally he was much better at keeping himself under control. "Does that kind of thing happen often?"

The silence was the only answer he needed.

"In the 15th century, the Japanese used to use gold dust, a staple of theirs, to repair broken pottery or china that had been broken," Reddington began, "in their eyes, the gold, acting like glue to attach the pieces back together. It's known as kintsugi."

The girl's dark, intelligent eyes marked his and he saw a light, deep down, flicker.

Red felt a wave of lightheaded overtake him and he leaned against the wall heavily. "Something's wrong." Red swallowed for a moment and didn't respond. Though the girl had gotten him out of the gun fire, there was no doubt they were coming for him.

By this time, Dembe had called Mr. Kapplan and the others to try and locate him. Without medical attention, the situation was looking grim.

He glanced back over to the girl. "Luli, I need you to do something for me, yes? By now, your husband probably knows that you're missing and my body is not accounted for." He felt a trickle of delirium swirl through his mind and his arm and legs grew heavy on his lap. "The drugs and blood loss will make it hard for me to defend us so I need you to take this."

The gun materialized from his waistband and Luli immediately cowered back. Reddington held up a hand, placating her.

"Shh, shh. Take the gun and shoot anything that comes through the door. I'm afraid I'm going to pass out promptly, so I need you to take me seriously when I say if you don't shoot first, they will."

He awoke again twice more before he remained awake, just as the sun was setting. He was pleased to find that the girl had taken up a less small position with the gun adjacent to the door, the metal in her left hand loose at her side.

"You're awake," she said, moving towards him. For the first time since their encounter in the house, Red was able to get a good look at the girl.

Her long hair was slightly tangled, but shiny and smooth. Her skin reflected the setting sun and her large eyes took stock of the room every few seconds. Her silk dress was slight wrinkled and she had dark black leggings with small footed combat boots. Though she was gorgeous, she moved with the shadows as if she wanted to stay there, hidden.

"How old are you, Luli?"

The girl hesitated, "old enough."

"You're very good at being evasive. A skill I would find much more impressive if it wasn't so damn irritating and I wasn't so good at it myself."

Luli shrank back at his slightly raised tone. "I'm sixteen."

"How long have been married to Trai?" Red asked carefully feeling exhaustion creep back up.

"Three years."

Along with the exhaustion came sickness. Three years with a brute and sadistic like Trai. He was surprised she was in such good shape.

"May I ask you something else?"

The girl folded her knees under her body and would meet his eyes. Her spare hand played with her long hair. "I suppose it depends on the question."

Red smirked slightly.

_Clever girl._

"Why did you rescue me? You must have known your husband's guards and expansive police guards would be hunting for us, but you helped me anyway."

Luli bit her lip and for a moment Red didn't think she wouldn't answer. Finally her eyes met Red's and she answered, "I liked your hat."


End file.
